Seven million years ago, precursors of man already moved on two legs through Africa. This is the conclusion of a new study of two forearms and a femur of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a great ape that lived in central Africa, in present-day Chad, during the Miocene epoch. French and Chadian researchers published the findings today in the journal Nature.
The nature of the femur indicated that the ape usually moved on two legs on the ground. But the research on the forearms showed that Sahelanthropus tchadensis also moved in trees and the ape already had a firm grip in the hands, distinguishing it from, for example, the gorilla or chimpanzee, which are four-legged.
The Sahelanthropus tchadensis is the oldest ancestor of humans, the scientists write. The researchers assigned the forearms and thigh to a great ape, because no other great apes have been found at the site. It is not clear whether the bones belonged to one great ape, according to the researchers.
Previous studies
Previous studies showed that human ancestors walked upright for millions of years. For example, another hominin, Orrorin tugenensis, walked upright about six million years ago in what is today Kenya. The so-called Australopithecus also moved on two legs through Africa four million years ago. Admittedly, there is some debate among scientists about just how “human-like” those species were, and where they reside within the human family tree.
The research team included paleontologists from the University of N’Djamena, the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRD) in Chad, the University of Poitiers and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France.
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